Replies to This Discussion

lol...your poor cat. Actually, your poor self esteem--I can't imagine the cat doing much but blinking dispassionately. I wonder about where some of these questions come from too, but then, there's a lot of mental contortion going on in the mind of a believer, so we shouldn't be too surprised.

It says clearly "Thou shalt not suffer a witch to live" so BECAUSE you believe god is watching, you have to do this immoral act. You can't do whatever you want as one who does not believe. It tells you quite specifically how you must act towards a witch. Immorally.

I, who am free to choose to be nice and say hello to the sexy vixen of a witch, might have a good time with her. The only burning would be passion.

It clearly says you must stone to death a person who so much as picks up sticks for firewood on the wrong day. You MUST stone him to death. You must act immorally. Commanded by god who is watching at all times- so you must. What stops you from doing these immoral acts?

You said as an atheist- you respected the rule of law of men- THAT kept you, but not your friends, in line. I say that Rules/Laws and our innate, evolved morality, are what still keep you from being one of god's peronal "helpers".

As we see daily in the papers, news, tv, and internet and in those old holy books- the displayed religious morality of suicide bombers, pro-lifers murdering people, 300 + years of the Inquisition, witch burning, Crusades, Fatwas, genital mutilation, no condoms, no birth control, pedo-priests and the cover-up, Sharia Law, 9/11, stoning, genocide... I wish this list didn't go on forever---"honor" killings, racism, homophobia and all the "us vs them" phobias, the rack, the chair, the Iron Maiden, the Maleous Malcrom ((sp?)- the ever so moral book on how to hunt, torture, and kill witches and warlocks), the burning and banning of books....prisons full of belivers, politics full of believers, the banning of stem cell research, anti-science, anti-intellectual, anti-progress...on and on and on...

Before you say that is a few bad apples using religion/scripture in the wrong way or interpreting the holy books wrong. These edicts, pograms, fatwas, and other crimes against humanity, were commited by many very devout, religious people, commanded by the highest, most exalted, most wise, and knowledgeable religious leaders, kings, and queens (also "divinely" guided and sometimes combined).

The problem, is religious people doing what they think is god's will in the absence of Man's law, the police, and rational thought.

If you only do good because you expect a reward in heaven or fear a punishment in hell you're not actually a good and moral person. It's literally the moral development stage of a child. That fits with the way religious people see themselves (sheep that need to be herded), but fortunately it's not really the way they behave, as much as they like to think so.